I had a great crew to snowshoe with this day.......Jimbo, Ike, Carla, Sherry, Lindy and Jay. The weather was perfect with warm temps and almost no breeze. The snow starts right from Hwy. 2 on Smithbrook Rd., although we didn't put on our snowshoes for a couple of miles. We could have waited even longer since the snow was pretty consolidated, but it was a bit slippery so we decided why not? Once we came to the first switchback it was easy to save a little bit by cutting up through it. Then at the next switchback the route leaves the road and goes straight ahead just above the valley bottom. It's tough to go wrong here as long as you don't follow any tracks that head sharply right toward Union Gap. There's a steep section that's through the trees which opens out to a basin between Lichtenburg and McCausland. We just kept a steady rising traverse headed to the upper right of the saddle ahead going up and up. From the saddle it's pretty obvious which way to go if you look at the map and it's clear that Lichtenburg is not your destination as it's quite impressive from this vantage point, although there is an easy route from the opposite side. We had been looking at recent slides all day and they were getting a bit spooky by this time with large chunks having broken off from above. We decided to play it safe and stopped only 300' from the top finding a great spot to have lunch on an overlook of Lake Vahalla with fabulous views to Stuart, Daniels, Hinman, Chiwaukums, Howard, and lots more. A perfect spring trip!

Rain was in the forecast, but we hoped it would hold off until the afternoon. The morning weather was beautiful with excellent visibility to far ranges of mountains!

There was snow on the trail at 4,500' and it became nearly constant at 4,800'. There was three inches of snow on Mt. MaCausland. There are no obstacles anywhere on the trails.

We saw deer and bear tracks in the snow, but no wildlife.

We were first on the trail today. We met 18 hikers on their way to Lake Valhalla when we hiked out. Sixteen of the incoming hikers were 60+. Go, Geezers!

This was a great hike on a day with questionable weather.

Snowshoe from Smithbrook trailhead to Mt. McCausland, above Lake Valhalla.
9.6 miles total, 2780 feet elevation.
Pictures: http://www.meetup.com/[…]/?photoAlbumId=6926612
GPS Track can be viewed and downloaded here (you will need to sign in to download): http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1578675

Joining me today were K Gazelle, J Gazelle, and Chippie. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with blue skies and the sunlight that only comes in late January and early February............ low and luscious! I've done this trip several times now with a slightly different route each time. Today we took off from Smithbrook at the first switchback and stayed lower than on previous trips. The best choice by far. Earlier in the season this may be problematic as there might be stream channels to hop over, but the conditions are perfect right now. Our route in was a traverse a bit above the low point of the basin, but our return route was better and we stayed lower. There were plenty of paths made by skiers, snowshoers and snowmobiles, but they took many different routes. In either case, you can't really go wrong here. The main thing is once you begin to view the saddle between McCauslin and Lichtenburg, to head towards the semi open area to the right of the saddle. Our goal was McCauslin, but the saddle is a nice destination in itself with views of the lake and to the south. We skipped it today and headed up. It gets steep here.......very steep. But by then you're almost there and the views are fantastic. There was no wind this day until we reached the summit where it was blowing cold and icy. A quick look around and then we moved down to a little knoll for lunch. This trip is very popular, but we almost had it to ourselves as I imagine many were watching the superbowl. The drive home was without the usual traffic nightmare for the same reason. A great day with old friends.